The Kathu Regional Court sentenced a 63-year-old pastor to 33 years’ imprisonment for raping two girls.
THE KATHU Regional Court sentenced Pastor Joseph Themane, 63, to 33 years’ imprisonment for raping two girls.
The incident dates back to 2020, when the two victims, aged 18 and 15, were raped while undergoing a “cleansing ceremony”.
This was after the pastor had informed them that they were “demon possessed”.
Themane took the two victims to the veld, raped them and told them that it was part of the healing and cleansing process.
The victims alerted their grandmother and a police case was opened.
Themane was arrested and bail was successfully opposed.
On June 9, 2023, the Kathu Regional Court sentenced Themane to 18 years’ imprisonment for count 1 and 15 years for count 2.
The SAPS management welcomed the hefty sentence handed down to Themane.
The JTG district commissioner, Major-General Johnny Besnaar, applauded the investigating officer in the matter, Detective Constable Refilwe Rapelang, for her “thorough and meticulous investigation of the case that led to the incarceration of the accused”.
Besnaar assured the public that gender-based violence and femicide offenders will “feel the full might of the law and be granted no impunity”.
